Birthday
by The You of Yesterday
Summary: Team Kakashi have organised the perfect celebration in honour of their captain's birthday. The only problem is that they have been there all night, and they're still waiting for Kakashi to show up...
1. Party

**Birthday**

Team Kakashi have organised the perfect celebration in honour of their captain's birthday. The only problem is that they are still waiting for Kakashi to show up...

* * *

_This is a prize/gift story for Seibaha no Tada, who left the 100th review on my story 'Endurance'. She gave me the idea, and I thought I'd give it a try. This will have 3 chapters, which are already written, so I'll post them at intervals of my choosing, hahaha!_

* * *

_Disclaimer__: I don't lay claim to Naruto_

* * *

1. Party

* * *

Sakura set a plate of freshly-baked cakes on the table with a sigh. That was the last last of it. Now that all the food was laid out ready for the party to begin there was time enough for her to have a sit down and a cup of tea before people started to arrive.

"Naruto" she called as she slumped onto the sofa. "Are you finished yet? Do you want some tea?"

"Just a sec, Sakura-chan, I'm nearly done". Naruto's voice floated in from outside where he was putting up the all-important Birthday Balloons on the front gate.

Sakura jumped up again and put the kettle on. It was nice to have a few minutes to relax after all the preparations, but she was so excited she couldn't seem to sit still. She was itching for the first guests to arrive so the party could get going. Although, of course, she thought with a scowl, it would be a miracle if the 'birthday boy' arrived on time.

"So, who do you think will get here first, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he bounced into the kitchen.

That was a tricky question as both Yamato and Sai were a bit anal when it cam to timekeeping. "Hmm, I think Yamato Taicho".

Naruto shook his head. "I think it will be Sai. No question!"

He was just as excited as she was, Sakura thought, and it made her smile. In all the years they had worked together as Team 7 and then as Team Kakashi, no one had ever known when Kakashi's birthday was. He had always seemed to know theirs, and had made a point of marking the occasion in some small way, but he had kept his own birthday securely under wraps. Sakura hadn't even been able to get it out of Tsunade-shishou. But just this year, about four months ago, Sakura had been working in the hospital while Kakashi happened to be in for an overnight stay following a mission. Normally, a patient's full medical record wasn't kept in the room they were staying in, but for some reason, there it was, lying on the table under the window. Tsunade or Shizune must have needed it for some reason, and had forgotten to file it away again.

Kakashi had been sound asleep, so, after performing her duties like a good little medic, and glancing around to make sure she was alone, Sakura had snooped. And sure enough there it was. That golden date, 15th September.

Today.

Sakura grinned and turned to Naruto. "How about we make this interesting and bet on it then, hmm?"

As she spoke, Sakura emptied her purse onto the kitchen counter and quickly counted the coins that fell out. She didn't have much in there, dammit. This party had practically cleaned her out, but it would be worth it.

"I'll bet you, er, 73 ryo that Yamato-taicho gets here first".

She stuck her hand out, and Naruto shook on the bet without hesitation, a huge grin on his face.

"Well, you'll soon be giving me that money, Sakura-chan, as I know Yamato-taicho is on a mission, haha!"

"Naruto!" Sakura readied her fist, but stopped herself. There was no need to punch Naruto over this, and besides, a mission wasn't something to laugh over. "What sort of mission, Naruto?"

"Oh, just giving the Water Daimyo's niece a guided tour of the local area." Naruto's grin was evil, and Sakura guessed that he had somehow managed to wriggle out of that task and palm it off to Yamato-taicho. And Naruto soon confirmed this for her. "Tsunade no ba-chan tried to get me to do it, but I told her you would kill me if I didn't help arrange Kakashi-sensei's party, so she let me off".

Naruto looked justifiably pleased with himself, and Sakura snorted out a laugh. "Poor old Yamato-taicho! He always gets stuck with the bum jobs."

Sakura poured the tea and she and Naruto made their way back to the living room to sit down.

"You don't think Kakashi-sensei will mind that we've technically broken in to his flat, do you? I mean, it was your idea..."

Sakura sighed. "We've had this discussion, Naruto. He won't mind. He gave me his key so I could water his plants when he's away, so it's not like I'm not allowed in here or something. And do you really think he would come if we had it somewhere else?"

Naruto grinned. "No, he'd find some lame excuse, like 'my invitation got stuck up a tree and a cat attacked me while I was trying to get it down, and my clothes got ripped so I had to go home and change, and by that time the party was over' ".

Naruto' caricature of Kakashi-sensei was so uncanny that Sakura fell about laughing.

"Haha! That's just like something he would say!"

A knock at the door interrupted their laughter, and the two old friends sat up straight and looked at each other, deadly serious, ready to settle their bet.

As one they got up from the sofa and headed for the door, fingers crossed and laughter barely-suppressed.

"Ok" said Sakura, her hand on the doorknob. "On three, are you ready?"

Naruto nodded as seriously as he could.

"One, two, three..."

Sakura wrenched open the door to reveal Sai. Her face fell while Naruto's lit up, but the next moment they were both smiling, as right behind Sai was Yamato-taicho.

"What's the matter, Sakura-san?" Sai asked. "Why are you not pleased to see me, but you are pleased to see Yamato-taicho? We were both invited to this event by you, and I have read that it is polite to make all guests at a party feel welcome".

Sakura smiled at him. Sai was miles better than he used to be, but he still pretty much sucked at social interactions.

"Don't worry Sai, you're very welcome. Me and Naruto had a bet on who would arrive first, and my money was on Yamato-taicho so I thought I'd lost my money when I saw you there!" She smiled and gave Sai and Yamato welcoming hugs.

"Please come in, you can put your shoes here. What's in the bowl, Yamato-taicho?"

Yamato was holding a large glass bowl covered with cling-film and it caught Sakura's attention. Or rather, it caught the attention of her stomach, which rumbled. She hadn't eaten lunch so she could leave more space for party food, so she was ravenous, and that bowl looked like it had a pudding in it...

"It's a trifle. My grandmothers recipe". Yamato held the bowl out so Sakura could see what was inside, then stepped out of his shoes and went to put his contribution on the table with everything else.

"What's a trifle?" Naruto asked, peering at it suspiciously. "It looks amazing!"

Sai decided to speak up as he placed a plate of sushi next to the trifle. "A trifle is a pudding usually made from fruit, sponges, cream, jelly, blancmange or other sweet foods, layered up in a dish".

"Ok..." said Naruto, looking at Yamato for an explanation that made more sense to him.

"It's a European dish, Naruto. And it's made from all those things, as Sai said. Basically, it's fantastic! You have to try it to fully understand". Yamato smiled at Naruto, and for once it wasn't his creepy 'I want to kill you' smile. "It's Kakashi-sempai's favourite, although he normally hates sweet things".

"When do you think Kakashi-sensei will get here then?" Sakura asked Yamato. If anyone knew these things it would be him, she surmised.

"I'm damned if I know" was the disappointing answer. "I saw Gai this morning on my way to my mission, and he said he was due to be training all day with Kakashi-sempai just outside the village, so Gai should be bringing him along any time now".

"That's good" Sakura found Gai a bit strange, but she was glad Kakashi wasn't 'unsupervised', as he probably wouldn't show up until about midnight if he was. For all his flaws, Gai was generally punctual, so Sakura guessed they should arrive soon.

As though called for, there came the sound of a key being turned in the front door.

"It's them!" whispered Naruto, and everyone ran and hid behind anything they could. Why they bothered no one really knew, as being a ninja Kakashi would sense their presence anyway, so the element of surprise would be lost somewhat. But hide they did, and by the time Gai walked into the living room there was no visible sign of anyone.

"Aha! This is a most Youthful Party!" Gai shouted. "I will join you all in this great game of Hide and Seek so that my Rival does not think me less Youthful than his Precious Students and Team Members!"

Sakura poked her head out from her hiding place behind the curtains to confirm what her ninja sense were telling her. No, Gai wasn't being totally dense and giving the game away. Kakashi wasn't with him.

She stepped out and Gai dropped out of his classic Nice Guy Pose as she approached him.

"Gai Sensei!" Sakura took the bowl of iced gems from Gai's outstretched hand and backed away to put it on the table before he could hug her. "We thought Kakashi-sensei was training with you today?"

Gai looked solemn for a moment. "We had indeed arranged to train together on this fine day, but alas, my Rival's skills were called for in defending our Beloved Village, and he was summoned away before I was able to issue a Most Youthful Challenge".

Sakura sighed. Even when he was being partially serious, Gai didn't seem to be able to speak normally, and she found it exhausting trying to translate his flowery language into regular speech.

"So he got called away on a mission?" she asked.

"Yes. Indeed he did, Sakura-san.".

"Is he due back today, Gai-sensei?" Naruto asked, popping out from his hiding spot in one of the kitchen cupboards.

Gai approached Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto-kun, do not fear, this is a simple mission for my Rival, and he is due to return at any time".

"Well, we could be waiting a while then" said Yamato rather huffily. "When he gets back he'll probably go and hand in his report first, and then go to the Memorial Stone for an hour, and then go and get something to eat and maybe sit in a bar and find some poor sod to pick up his bill..." Yamato's rant trailed off as he continued mumbling to himself and Naruto laughed.

"We could always go and watch for him by the gate, then we can bug him and make him come here".

"That's actually not a bad idea, Naruto". Sakura was keen to get the party started, and they couldn't do that without Kakashi.

"Hold it!" Gai grabbed Naruto's shoulder as he headed for the door. "Why don't we move the party to the gates? That way, the moment he walks through we'll be able to grab him, and he won't be able to make excuses!"

Everyone agreed, so they all grabbed something and headed for the gates. Sakura was glad of Gai's suggestion as they could be in for a long wait, and she was really hungry. This way they could eat while they waited. Perfect!

And she was even more thankful for Gai's suggestion two hours later, when the party spirit had died somewhat, and they were still waiting. The area by the gates had been transformed into an outdoor replica of Kakashi's living room and the five of them were lounging around, having eaten half the food – in spite of their best efforts to leave the table looking nice and full for Kakashi's arrival.

There was a bit of uneasy tension in the air as a the conversation came to a natural pause, and no one seemed to have anything else to say.

Sakura started to wonder whether Kakashi would be coming at all that night. She had no idea what Kakashi's mission was, but she knew from experience that things rarely went precisely to plan on missions. Team Seven's first real assignment together was testament to that.

Looking around her, Sakura could tell that Naruto was thinking along the same lines, and Yamato-taicho also looked thoughtful. Sai looked as impassive-slash-clueless as ever, and Gai was still standing on one hand as some sort of challenge to himself.

"I'm going to go and ask Tsunade no ba-chan what Kakashi-sensei's mission is", Naruto said suddenly, then stood up and flew off before anyone could stop him.

Well, it wasn't such a bad thing to do, Sakura thought.

About ten minutes later, Naruto returned with Tsunade-shishou and Shizune in tow. It turned out Kakashi's mission was a C-rank escort assignment. He was supposed to protect some dignitary from Earth Country as he travelled from Konoha to the southern port. It should have taken about 6 hours to get there at a slow pace, and just over an hour for Kakashi to make it back to Konoha on his own. Tsunade had known about the party, but it turned out that this dignitary was skittish about the journey to the coast, and had specifically requested Kakashi as a bodyguard.

It seemed a little fishy to Sakura, although she couldn't put her finger on exactly why she felt that way. A glance at Naruto told her that he felt the same; they were very often on the same wavelength these days. The two of them and Kakashi-sensei tended to think as one half of the time.

She looked towards the gate and unconsciously started chewing her fingernails, wondering how long this wait could be.

The mission sounded too simple, and although she told herself not to be silly, Inner Sakura shouted back at her to listen to her gut. After all, it was usually right.


	2. Mission

2. Mission

* * *

Kakashi wasn't a fool. He knew that his team were planning to throw him a party for his 40th birthday, and he was secretly looking forward to it.

He had never had a birthday party before, and as long as it was a small affair with just his team he found that he didn't actually mind.

No, scratch that, he really liked the idea.

He was deeply touched that they hadn't given up on him after he had evaded the subject of his birthday for so many years. Even Tenzo hadn't known the date before now, and that was saying something. That man knew far too much about him for his own good.

And now that he had finally realised he'd been an idiot; now he could at last see that people really did care about him, he wasn't going to make it back in time for his party.

Typical.

Of all the stupid things to make him late for his first ever birthday party, it had to be some dumb stupid set-up of a C-rank mission.

At this point, Kakashi knew he was being optimistic to think he would make it back at all, but focussing on the fact that he would miss his party made it easier to swallow somehow. Kakashi would let his team down again, and he knew exactly what that felt like, so that was the aspect of this whole sorry mess that he focussed on.

He imagined Sakura's tear-stained face as she pummelled all the spoiled food to mush, and Naruto's tears as he tore down the decorations and ran around looking for someone to yell at over the unfairness of it.

Yes, Kakashi was going to miss his birthday party unless he got out of here pretty damn soon. Damn age. If he had been ten years younger this would never have happened.

He chuckled out loud.

"What's so funny, Copy-slag?"

Something smacked Kakashi round the face so hard it broke his cheekbone. They had hit him with a nun-chuck. Now that just wasn't on. Hadn't these guys heard of starting off with the softer stuff?

"I said, what's so funny?"

Damn, he hadn't realised he was supposed to actually give an answer. Well, if he must. Kakashi didn't feel much like turning up to his birthday party with his face smashed in. He had planned on taking his mask off as well, just to show his team the level of trust he placed in them all.

It was actually a little hard to speak after that smack. His face hurt, but he went for the most flippant tone he could manage and said

"Do you realise I'm missing my birthday party for this?"

It didn't go down well, but then, that was the intention.

_'Making Your Captors Lose Their Cool' _had been Kakashi's one and only addition to the ANBU training module on interrogation. He'd never been much good at actually doing the interrogating, but he was pretty good at being interrogated, if he did say so himself, so he knew a few tricks.

His general policy was to act as cool as he could, as though none of it bothered him in the slightest, and wind the interrogators up so they couldn't focus on their original goals. This not only allowed more time for a rescue to be attempted if teammates were nearby, but by turning the interrogation to his advantage Kakashi had frequently managed to extract more intel from his interrogators than they had from him, and launch successful escape attempts while the enemy was distracted.

Confuse, and you don't lose. That was some sort of motto someone had once told him. Who was it? Shikaku, or perhaps Ji...

Kakashi's thoughts were cut off as he felt a sharp crack, followed by intense pain in his left hand. Someone had broken one of his fingers. Now that's more like it. A classic. Ouch.

"Don't be facetious boy". It was a different voice this time, one a lot smoother and more cultured than the last. This must be the guy who had requested the mission, the one who had set the whole thing up to get revenge for something or other.

Kakashi hadn't really listened as this man had blabbed on about avenging his father's death at the hands of the White Fang in the Second War. If he'd been set on avenging something Kakashi had actually done then he would have listened more carefully. While he was certainly not pro-vengeance, Kakashi was a sympathetic man at heart, and he carried an enormous weight of guilt around with him over those he'd been forced to kill in the name of duty.

Had he been the one to have killed this man's father, he would have engaged with him and tried to reason it out, but as it was, this man knew full well that Kakashi was not the White Fang. In fact, this man knew that Kakashi had not even been conceived when the killing took place, and since he knew these things and yet had still embarked upon this whole crazy scheme, Kakashi didn't see how such a man could be reasoned with.

He was sure Naruto would have found a way though.

Well, Kakashi was not Naruto, more's the pity, so he resigned himself to a long and pointless interrogation, followed by - if he was lucky - either a quick death or a chance to make his escape.

If he was unlucky... well, let's just say that today, Kakashi was feeling lucky. It was his birthday, and he was surely due a little luck.

.

_Five hours later..._

Kakashi hadn't been wrong about the long interrogation. It turned out that as well as being revenge-crazed, this guy was also part of a group within Iwa opposing the old Tsuchikage. He had kindly brought along the leader of this group to extract some intel from Kakashi that would force the Iwagakure elders to lose faith in their kage, with the ultimate goal of breaking down the alliance with Konoha.

This group, in typical fashion, seemed to be formed of those who still hated Konoha for the wars of the past.

Kakashi himself had plenty that he could dislike Iwagakure for if he put his mind to it, but most of the shinobi who had been involved were long dead, and peace was far more valuable a prize to him than the empty pride found in taking revenge against those former enemies who had survived.

At this point, he had lost track of the things they had done to try to get information out of him. Focussing on injuries would only make it harder to make it back to the Village once he managed to escape these losers. Kakashi knew this from cold, hard experience.

The only way to make it back to Konoha while severely injured was to convince your body you were absolutely fine and in tip-top condition, and just run for it before your body realised you were trying to pull the wool over its eyes.

Its metaphorical eyes.

The literal eyes are in the head and therefore would be more likely to align themselves with the brain than with the body, Kakashi mused.

Pulling the wool over your literal eyes wouldn't do any good at all, as being blind is rarely an advantage.

He laughed out loud yet again. This time it was not an intentional jibe at his captors, it was genuine amusement. When his brain started trying to tie itself in knots over weird metaphorical stuff Kakashi knew he was seriously bored. When he actually started to find that weird metaphorical stuff hilariously funny, he knew he was close to losing his marbles.

These guys were incredibly dull. They hadn't even asked him anything original, just the usual trash like 'where are Konoha's border patrols based and how many shinobi are at each position?' and the brilliant 'at exactly what time does the Hokage take her morning tea so we can poison it?'

Didn't they realise that if they failed to kill him Kakashi would have knowledge of practically their whole plot and they would have to start all over again?

That laugh had pissed someone off though, which wasn't a good thing.

He didn't raise his head, but Kakashi could feel someone approaching. It was the Resistance Leader. He was far stronger than the Revenge Guy and Kakashi knew that, if he were to stand a chance of getting out of here, he would have to take this guy out first of all with a surprise attack. He couldn't beat him in a straight match in his current state.

Perhaps that laugh would serve a purpose after all.

Kakashi remained completely still but his senses were on high alert as the man approached him.

Resistance Leader was angry, and the killing intent he was generating felt erratic and flaky. He was quick to anger, and his anger did not serve him well, but presumably he was so strong it didn't matter whether or not he could think straight. Like Naruto.

For Kakashi, things were totally different. It took a hell of a lot to get him wound up, and on the few occasions he had got angry his rage had sharpened his skills and focussed his mind. Which was a good thing, he thought, as he wasn't a brute-strength kind of shinobi.

The guy leaned in, very close to Kakashi, and shoved his big ugly face right in Kakashi's personal space. No one did that and lived to try it again. Except Naruto.

Kakashi could feel his anger starting to bubble up. He felt he had been incredibly patient with these jerks, calmly conversing with them and never raising his voice even though they had broken all of his fingers and then gone on to do stuff he had purposefully blocked out. But he did have his limits, and aside from insulting or hurting something he had sworn to protect, the only other thing that got Hatake Kakashi going was people getting all up in his face.

Well, there was one other thing that really hacked Kakashi off.

And the idiot just had to do it, didn't he?

Not only did he remove Kakashi's hitae-ate and toss it aside like garbage - and that was bad enough – he did something even more unspeakable than that.

He grabbed Kakashi's mask and pulled it down.

Without.

Even.

Asking.

...

...

Well. That certainly takes the biscuit, Kakashi thought, icy-calm even in his anger.

He could feel the rage building up inside of him, and it gave him the sharpness, the burst of razor-like thinking ability, that he needed to get out of a situation like this.

Kakashi's mind, which had previously been wandering all over the place, unfocused and clouded with pain he was trying to ignore, switched into a different gear as his anger reached boiling point.

The guy said something supposedly menacing or belittling about Kakashi's face that his mind didn't even bother to register, and then he did something monumentally stupid.

That fuck-wit actually reached around Kakashi and started to cut through the chakra ropes they'd tied him up with. This was too good to be true. Kakashi could feel his chakra returning and his super-charged mind began to enact an escape plan on the fly.

In a flash, too fast for anyone who wasn't expecting it to see, Kakashi activated the Mangekyou Sharingan. In a fraction of a second the Kamui sent that shit-head's brain stem into the other dimension. Without it, the big-faced man was completely useless. Dead.

Knowing he had very little time before people started reacting, Kakashi spun around, executing a high spinning kick. The side of his bare foot struck upwards, hard, beneath the chin of the Revenge Jerk. The blow was enough to snap his neck, and before his partner's body had hit the ground he too was rendered inactive. Dead.

Kakashi completed his full spin and assessed the situation.

The two strongest opponents had been taken out in a matter of seconds, but there was still the rest of the entourage of twenty-odd people to think about.

Some of those people were actually civilian servants brought along for the trip, so Kakashi wanted to avoid killing them if he could help it. The problem was that he felt so weak that even an un-trained civilian could take him out with a well-timed blow. Kakashi was under no illusions about his state of health, and he had to act quickly and decisively if he was to make it.

He could see the fear on the faces of most of the ninja, and a few of the smarter people were already starting to back away, preparing to run for it while they still could. After all, it is pretty terrifying to see a man you'd been sure was as good as dead leap up and kill your two leaders in less than a second.

Most of the shinobi were only just realising what had happened, and it was clear that the civilians didn't have a clue yet, so Kakashi worked out that he just needed to take out two or three more ninja and the others should get the message.

Although he was badly injured and so unable to use his body to its fullest extent, Kakashi still had virtually all of his chakra, so the Mangekyou was the perfect option here. He thanked Obito silently once again. His pessimistic side told him it was probably the last time.

Kakashi quickly focused Kamui the elbow joint of one of the shinobi. He wouldn't kill him outright, just sever the lower part of his arm. There were medics present, and if he didn't send too much tissue into the other dimension they should be able to re-attach it just fine. Kakashi was always thinking about minimising collateral damage – he was just that sort of guy.

These people had nothing to do with the Revenge Guy's idiotic scheme, and he couldn't really blame them for joining a resistance movement. At least they were fighting for something they believed in rather than blindly following their Kage. And any who weren't ideological fighters were probably hired guns, and Kakashi knew exactly what it felt like to walk in their shoes.

He had no beef with any of them really. He just wanted to get home in time for his birthday party.

So he took out a cross-section of cells from the man's elbow joint with blinding accuracy, then moved on to the next target without a pause. Here he took another bit of elbow. From the next man he took the same.

Kakashi didn't like being so repetitive, but after all he needed them to be able to run away or they might cause trouble by throwing weapons at him if they were stuck on the ground and still conscious. If they couldn't run they would fight, so Kakashi had to make them run, as he couldn't afford to fight.

And run they did.

As the third guy's forearm fell to the ground, the civilians caught on and wasted no time in legging it out of there. The shinobi followed. They knew the reputation of the Copy Ninja, and were getting first-hand intel that the 75 million ryu bounty on his head wasn't just for shits and giggles.

Kakashi stood there trying his best to look like 75 million ryu's worth of cold-blooded killer while they all fled the scene. This was where he wished he had a giant summon, like Tsunade's slugs or Jiraiya's and Minato-sensei's – and now Naruto's – toads. His biggest summon was Bull, and though he was big for a dog he couldn't carry a fully grown man the twenty-six-and-a-third miles back to Konoha.

So before the adrenaline of the fight wore off completely, Kakashi set off for home, thinking of nothing other than his goals once he reached the Village:

1. Pass on intel relating to Iwa insurgency

2. Attend birthday party.


	3. Ending

g

Ending

* * *

Everyone had waited well into the small hours of the morning for Kakashi to turn up to his 40th birthday party. Sakura had been pleased that even those who weren't invited had decided to stick around, and it wasn't just for the free food. She knew this as the food had been cleaned out by 9pm, and it was a miracle that it had lasted that long.

A miracle and some handy work with her fists.

Sakura had eventually hidden a little bit of everything in her medical kit for Kakashi once she had realised she couldn't keep up her little game of human whack-a-mole. There were just too many people trying to get at the food and she couldn't punch them all.

Now, at five in the morning, only the hard-core of Team Kakashi remained along with Tsunade and Shizune, and they were all displaying (and trying to conceal) varying signs of worry.

Sakura knew that Kakashi was a consummate shinobi who had made it home countless times against the odds through his sheer skill and determination.

And she didn't even know that anything had happened to him. For all she knew, one of the rails might have broken on the dignitary's sedan chair, or a wheel might have come off his carriage, so Kakashi could be holed up in some cushey inn en-route.

However, her gut instinct kept shouting at her that something was not right, and she couldn't ignore it.

Everyone else appeared to feel the same way, as there were far too many assurances being offered that everything would 'be all right', and that Kakashi would 'be here soon'. Shinobi did not like to fear the worst, but they all knew exactly what a delayed return to the Village could mean.

Everyone kept on making (increasingly more half-hearted) jokes about Kakashi's perpetual lateness.

Even for Kakashi, being twelve hours late was pushing it and everyone knew it.

If he was delayed, why didn't he send Pakkun with a status report? That was his usual mode of practice.

Sakura couldn't settle her stomach at all, and paced up and down beside the Village gates, staring restlessly at the road beyond the gates as the morning light began to erase the darkness from the sky, and she could actually see the view beyond the gate.

That familiar road of dry yellowish mud, with the trees of the great forest in the near distance, just as the road dipped over a brow and disappeared from sight.

She had stood in this very place before to welcome teams home, as from here you could see them them moment they crested that brow, and you could judge how injured they were before deciding whether to run out to them or let them walk the final six hundred metres to the gates.

And as she watched, Sakura saw what she thought was a mirage, or a memory brought to life by her tired mind.

A lone figure appeared coming over the brow. This figure was slow-moving and from it's laboured, uneven gait, Sakura could tell whoever it was was severely injured.

And she had a feeling that whoever it was was Kakashi-sensei, and he needed her help.

With a shout, Sakura took off running, followed closely by the rest of the party-goers. That run seemed to Sakura to be the longest of her life. Even though she was going at full-tilt, she didn't seem to be getting any closer to the figure on the road.

But when she did eventually get there, Sakura felt her heart would break.

That lone figure was Kakashi-sensei, and how he was moving, how he was standing up – in fact, how on earth he was even alive – entirely escaped her.

He smiled at her, and it took her a while to realise he wasn't wearing his mask. That smile was like the sun, as it warmed Sakura from within. It was so bright, so radiant and so genuine that it brought a tear to her eye.

"Sakura" he whispered. It was so quiet she had to get much closer to him to hear what he was saying. She put his arm over her shoulder to support his weight.

"Did I miss my party?"

Sakura laughed, slightly hysterically.

"No. We waited for you, Kakashi-sensei. I saved you some food."

He smiled even more brightly, turning his head towards her so that his straight white teeth were just inches from her face.

"Well good" he murmered. "I'm starved".

"Well, just let me carry you the rest of the way, hey, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura looked around to see the rest of her team all standing there, a few metres away, waiting. She sought out Tsunade and they exchanged a medic's glance.

"No no, Sakura, I can walk to my own party. I'm only forty for goodness sake", here Kakashi paused to cough up a disturbing amount of blood. "I'm not a hundred" he finished.

That blinding smile was still turned on her, and she couldn't resist him. Naruto came up and took Kakashi's other side, tears in his blue eyes, and together the last of the original Team 7 made their way back to the Village they all loved.

As they crossed the threshold into Konoha, Kakashi's legs gave way completely and his dead weight fell onto Sakura and Naruto.

"Thank you for waiting for me, everyone. I'm sorry I was so late. Even for me this must be a record". Kakashi could barely speak, and the effort it took to get the words out was tremendous, but he didn't give up. He evidently had something to say.

Naruto and Sakura laid him down gently on the ground, and Tsunade and Shizune came over to try to help. Sakura knew there was nothing to be done. She knew that her two fellow medics knew it too.

And above all, she knew that Kakashi knew it.

So she pulled the party food she had saved out from her pouch and laid it out next to him on the ground.

"Look, Kakashi-sensei, here's the food I saved for you". She held up a piece of Sai's sushi and offered it out to Kakashi, who was still smiling like a fool.

"Just a moment, Sakura", he said, his face becoming serious. "Tsunade-sama, I need to report".

Tsunade looked up and brushed her long hair out of her face. Sakura had never seen her shishou actually cry before, and it was disturbing to say the least.

"Go ahead, Kakashi", Tsunade said, her voice steady and gently commanding despite her tears.

"The mission was a set-up. There is a group of Iwa shinobi who oppose the Tsuchikage and hold a grudge against Konoha for the past wars. Their aim was to capture me to gain intel on Konoha's defences, and to gain enough info to try to assassinate you,. Hokage-sama. I killed two of their leaders, but the rest got away. We need to let the Tsuchikage know about this..."

Kakashi was forced to stop speaking as his lungs seemed to give up on him and he struggled to breathe.

Sakura could see that this was it, but it didn't stop her from desperately wanting to cheat fate, so she dived in.

"Don't, Sakura". Tsunade sounded firm and threatening, but Sakura didn't care. She couldn't let someone she loved die in front of her without even trying to save them. Even though it was probably hopeless, Sakura had learned from Naruto that if you never give up you can never be disappointed in yourself.

So she ignored her shishou and began assessing her sensei's internal injuries with her chakra, focussing on critical areas and healing them bit by bit.

But it was no use. As fast as she could heal him, Kakashi's body seemed to be breaking down from the inside. It was a poison.

It was Konoha's own poison they gave to their ANBU agents.

This realisation hit her hard and fast like a speeding train.

No wonder Tsunade and Shizune weren't trying to save him. He had swallowed a poison that broke the body down so that if captured, the enemy could not steal its secrets. It was normally something an ANBU shinobi would take as a last resort, when nothing else remained but they wanted to avoid the collateral damage caused by blowing themself up.

But Kakashi had evidently been fighting the poison off with his chakra. He had thought his situation was hopeless, but he had still somehow managed to get home. But it was too late. There was no antidote to this. There was only so long the effects could be fought off, and the poison had been in his system for too long now to remove it mechanically.

This was it.

"Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun, Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san, Tenzo, Sai" Kakashi's voice was very small now, broken and sad. He didn't want to go, Sakura knew that much.

"Let's have that party" he said, and smiled.

It was the bravest thing Sakura had ever seen. That smile, small and warm and utterly beautiful.

Sakura used her medical chakra to keep Kakashi's heart beating as Naruto knelt down beside her. He picked up the piece of sushi and offered it to Kakashi, who opened his mouth and chewed it slowly with great relish.

Yamato, Sai, Tsunade and Shizune looked on, and Yamato said, with false cheer, "Happy birthday, kakashi-sempai!" and they all joined in chorus.

Kakashi swallowed, painfully, and still smiling he whispered; "Thank you", before his eyes closed slowly, first the black, then the red.

And that smile remained on his face; a smile that no one had seen until now, but that would now be forever imprinted on the memories of those people who loved him the most.

Sakura cried. It was too late to tell him they were all wrong about his face. Too late to tell him he was beautiful and that they all loved him. Too late for so many things and she couldn't bear it.

But months later, when the grief was starting to wear down to a painful heartache, and that smile only haunted her dreams every other night, Sakura realised that they didn't need to tell him any of that stuff, as he already knew.


End file.
